


Dudley Dursley goes to camp.

by HPFandom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Multi, Out of Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-03-16
Updated: 2006-04-17
Packaged: 2018-10-01 07:00:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10183496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HPFandom_archivist/pseuds/HPFandom_archivist
Summary: Dudley goes to camp but finds out that it is not the pleasure camp he thought it was going to be.





	1. Chapter One.

**Author's Note:**

> Note from SeparatriX, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [HP Fandom](http://fanlore.org/wiki/HP_Fandom_\(archive\)), which was closed for health and financial reasons. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2016. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [HP Fandom collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/hpfandom/profile).

Title: Dudley Dursley goes to camp.  
Author: Beth Brownell  
Feedback: Feedback is very much welcomed.  
Archive: Ask me first.  
Rating: PG.  
Pairing(s): None.  
Summary: Dudley goes to camp but finds out that it is not the pleasure camp he thought it was going to be.  
Notes: This story idea came from my friend Devona and Susan, who has diabetes who helped me with this story, to both of them I say thanks. The timeline of this story can be any time during the series before Book Five.  
Disclaimer: I am only borrowing the characters that JKR created for a short time and I'm not receiving any money for this story. JKR is a Goddess for blessing us with them.  
Now, some people may not believe that Dudley Dursley could be a diabetic purely by his weight; considering he does not do much exercise unless you call beating Harry up exercising is another factor into him possibly having diabetes. Dudley Dursley is a fat, lazy young kid who has no exercise program beyond chasing Harry around when he’s at the Dursleys and sitting in front of the telly all day and probably most of the night and he eats whatever and in huge amounts of food.

**Dudley Dursley goes to camp.**

 

Dudley found out all about the camp when he was talking to his friends in the boys’ bathroom in Smelting. One of them happened to mention that his parents were sending him away to camp over the summer holiday. Dudley thought that this sounded like fun, so when they were alone, he asked for more information. His friend gave him a leaflet which had more information in it, times, dates, where it was and what the camp was for.

Struggling to read it, Dudley noticed that the deadline for enrolling was the next day. It was a bit expensive, but he knew that his dad would easily cough up the cash, anything for little Dudders, anything to keep him from having a most horrendous and childish temper tantrum.

Once school finished, Dudley said goodbye to all his friends, and almost ran to the gate, he wanted to ask his dad about camp the minute he got the chance, and there was no way that he was missing out on this. If his friend Jake could go then, so could he!

The minute he got to the car he saw that Harry was already sitting in the back, his owl – Hedwig – proudly cleaning her feathers in a cage next to him. Dudley didn’t waste any time; he opened the back door and started to moan, “Daddy, why must that animal sit with me? Owls are so disgusting!”

“Get that ruddy Owl out of the backseat and into the boot with the rest of your rubbish, boy!” snapped Vernon.

“Yes, Uncle Vernon.” Harry said, edging out of the car, holding Hedwig’s cage in his hand, trying not to make it look obvious, he flicked open the lock on the cage door and watched as his owl flew off in the direction of home, albeit after a moments indecision. She was gone before Vernon could do anything to stop him. Harry shrugged, “Sorry but the lock came undone, and it was a little bit loose.”

Vernon got out of the car and walked over to his son, “How was school?”

Dudley hugged his father tightly and gave him an innocent smile. Harry rolled his eyes and groaned; he knew that Dudley was going to ask for something and knowing him it was going to either be big or expensive or both. “Good, but I want to go to this camp.” He dug into his back pocket of his even tighter school trousers, handing Vernon the information leaflet. “Here’s all the information about it. Jake’s parents are sending him. Can I go, daddy?”

Taking the thin, colorful booklet from Dudley, Vernon looked through it quickly and then put it on in his coat pocket. “We’ll see.” He dropped down into the driver’s seat, the car bouncing slightly at the added weight. “What are you waiting for, boy?” he looked at Harry in the rearview mirror and demanded as Harry just stood in the open doorway and stared up at the sky. “I haven’t got all day you know!”

Reluctantly, Harry got into the car and buckled his seatbelt, watching – desperately trying not to laugh out loud – as Dudley struggled to do up his own seatbelt over his extremely wide girth.

The journey home was full of Petunia chattering excitedly to Dudley and her husband, about how wonderful it would be for Dudley to go to camp – “Such an enriching experience!” – The new baby in the street – “It’s dreadfully noisy, nothing like our lovely Dudders was as a baby.” – and other inconsequential stuff that happened around the neighborhood.

Not once did they both to ask Harry about his school year, or anything that might have been in the least interesting.

When they got home, Dudley immediately headed for the house, not once getting his own bags from the car. Harry had gotten out of the car before Dudley and grabbed his trunk. Dudley decided to make Harry trip couple of times before he went to the door and opened it and closed it in front of Harry, making him open it himself. Dudley had placed his coat on the coat rack. He smiled innocently towards Vernon, who was already red in the face for he had yelled at Harry for something that he had done like closing the door behind him.

“I’m going to go take a bath and get ready for dinner, mum.” Dudley said, looking at his mum before he shoved Harry hard into the wall as he passed.

“Uncle Vernon, a word with you if you don’t mind?” asked Harry, hoping to get the chance to go to the same camp as Dudley.

“Speak quick boy!” snapped Vernon, spit flew out from his mouth.

“I was wondering if I could go…” asked Harry.

“Go to camp with our Dudley, definitely not!” Vernon snarled.

“No, I wanted to know if I could go visit my friends in ‘that world’. I'll be gone for only a week or two at the longest depending on how long Dudley stays at the camp," replied Harry easily, realizing he didn't want to be with Dudley more than was necessary.

Vernon turned towards Petunia and walked away from Harry. “We’ll talk about it, boy. Go to your room.”

Only a few minutes later, did Harry hear the familiar angry yell coming from Vernon. He headed down to the kitchen to see Vernon standing there with Petunia and Dudley behind him glaring down at him as always. "I have decided to let you go to your friends' place. But be warned, no ‘M’ stuff there."

“Thanks, I’ll notify my friends that I’m coming over.” Harry said, as he walked back up the stairs.

About an hour later, the doorbell rang. Dudley answered the door. He quickly backed away from the two figures in the door as they walked in. Dudley pointed up the stairs. “He’s in the first bedroom to your right.”

“Thanks, Dudley!” said Ron, as he rushed up the stairs. “Hey Harry, come on!”

Soon, Harry came down with Ron. Harry and Ron were hauling down his trunk and the cage for Hedwig.

Instead of Arthur Weasley standing there, it was Molly Weasley. She and Petunia were talking very civilly.

“Mum, Harry’s here.” Ron said, from the hallway.

“Good, I’ll send the recipe by owl when I get it written down, if that is alright with you Petunia?” asked Molly.

“Sure, that will be alright,” Petunia said.

“Okay, Ron, Harry, come on, the Ministry’s car is waiting for us.” Molly said, as they headed out of the house.

Vernon did not know that there was a Ministry for the Wizard folk, so he rushed to the door to see them get into a black car with flags on the bumper that had a weird emblem on it. ‘That must be their emblem for their world?’ Vernon thought to himself. Then, a thought came to him, ‘What if I managed to get them to buy some of my drills? But what kind of money do they use in their world?’

“Daddy, I need to go to school tomorrow morning and you need to pay for my time at camp!” wailed Dudley.

“Alright, Dudley, you can go to camp, let me see the brochure. I’ll just call the camp and see what the full price is for you to be there all summer long, from how the brochure looks you should have a blast there,” Vernon stated. He picked up the phone and called the number on the brochure and after twenty minutes of haggling down the price to a good price, hung up the phone. He turned to Dudley, with a big grin on his fat face. “Dudley, my boy, you have two months at The Path of the Peak camp.”

“Yes!” Dudley jumped up and down with joy. The vase on the mantle rocked back and forth as Dudley’s heavy set body made the house rock. Dudley rushed off to tell his friends that he wouldn’t be around for he would be going to camp tomorrow morning.

Vernon turned to Petunia as he placed the leaflet down on the dining room table. “I need to tell you something very serious, Pet. It’s about Dudley,”

Petunia placed her dish towel down on the counter and turned to Vernon. “What’s wrong with my Dudley?”

“You might want to sit down for this,” Vernon stated, looking at his wife who looked at him with a worried face. “Dudley is aware of his condition but he is refusing to take his shots to keep it under control.”

“What condition?” asked Petunia.

“The school sent me a notice while back that informed me that Dudley is a diabetic, they have been giving him shots which keeps his blood sugar in check, but now with the summer holiday here, they are not able to do that. We are not that good with making him do what we want him to do. So the leaflet that Dudley gave me, is in fact a camp for diabetics,” Vernon stated.

“My son is a diabetic?” asked Petunia. A look of shock came over her face as she looked at Vernon. “My dear Dudley,”

Vernon hurried as fast as his heavy set body could to the window and turned to look at Petunia. “Dudley doesn’t know that we know he is a diabetic. Please act like normal when he’s around.”

“He doesn’t have diabetes, he is in full health!” snapped Petunia.

“Pet, he does have diabetes,” Vernon stated, firmly. “Dudley and you are in denial of what his medical condition is. He is a diabetic.”

Petunia shook her head. Vernon knew she was in denial about his condition. He knew he would have to shock her into realizing that Dudley was a diabetic. He would have to make the call to the camp and see about talking to the nurse when Dudley is there.

_TBC . . ._


	2. Chapter Two.

**Chapter Two.**

The next morning dawned bright and early, and Dudley could not contain his excitement. Breakfast, in his opinion, was taking too long. He decided, therefore, to whine very loudly, "We're going to be late!"

Vernon smirked. "Dudley, we have plenty of time to get you to the coach at school."

"I do not want to be late!" Dudley screamed. He then started to jump up and down. "If I'm late, you are going to have to drive me there!"

Vernon sighed, giving in to his son. He looked at the clock and then quickly checked the traffic update, looking out for any possible delays. He finished his cup of now cold tea, took a rich tea finger biscuit and grabbed his keys.

"Okay, we have plenty of time to get you to the coach, Dudley. Got your things?"

"In the boot, can we leave now?" snapped Dudley, stomping his foot on the floor.

"Yes, we can go, Duddekkins," Petunia stated calmly and smiled at her son as they headed towards the car.

Twenty minutes later the coach was ready to go. Jake stood by the door of the coach and counted the bags that were being loaded. He soon realized that one bag was missing, and after some enquiries discovered exactly which bag – the bag for Dudley Dursley.

"Are we all set to go, Jake?" asked the coach driver.

"No, there is one left," Jake stated.

"Who would that be?"

"Dudley Dursley. He'll be the one student at the camp who will not be pleased with what the camp really is at first but he'll like it in the end. Oh blimey, here comes the bloody fat slob now! Mention nothing to him about the camp," Jake said. The coach driver nodded and got on the coach to get it started.

Dudley ran up to the coach and spotted Jake standing outside. "Hi Jake, am I on time?" asked Dudley, panting.

"Just in the nick of time, Dudley, we were just about to leave," Jake smirked. Now to reel this fat pig in. "Oh by the way, Dudley, I'll have to search your bag for any contraband."

"Contraband? But this is a camp, not a prison right?" asked Dudley, suspicious, and, truth be told, a little terrified.

"Yes, it is a camp, but they have rules, and one of those is that certain items are not allowed in the camp itself. Sorry, rules are rules," Jake said, as he opened Dudley's brown bag and started to remove his translucent blue game boy advance, some cartridges for the game boy, and about five dozen chocolate bars.

The coach driver looked at Dudley and whispered to Jake, "Watch! In five seconds he's going to complain about not being able to have those with him at the camp."

Jake nodded, trying to hide his smile, as he handed the items over to Petunia. "Sorry, these cannot be on the camp grounds."

"But those can't contraband items!" Dudley yelled, feeling thoroughly in need of the chocolate bars already.

"I'm sorry, but they are. You are not allowed to bring sweets, game boys and other games or mobile phones, just like the Gordon Brown camps. Don't look so scared, there will be sweets there for you to eat," Jake said. "Now, close your bag up and throw it under the coach and get on…if you want to come that is, Dudley."

"I want to come, dad paid for a full two months at the camp," Dudley said.

“Then, say goodbye to your parents and get on board." Jake grinned, getting on the coach.

"Call us when you get there, Dudley!" Petunia cried, already tearful. She'd miss her little boy.

"Sorry, there will be no phone calls coming in or out. Not till the end of the two months," Jake replied.

"Will there be visitations for the parents to see how their children are doing?" asked Petunia, horrified. "It said we can have visits."

"Sorry, the leaflet has been changed from last year's. Due to parents being insufferable gits towards the staff at the camp, they are no longer holding the weekend visits," Jake said.

"But why weren't those parents banned and not the rest? That sounds very cruel to parents," Vernon admonished, feeling a bit insulted. He was certainly no git!

"That was a good idea, but it was voted upon to bar all parents from coming at all," Jake stated. "They were causing too much havoc at the camp." Jake looked at his watch. "We will be late if we do not leave now." He didn't see the looks of regret on the faces of Vernon and Petunia Dursley.

Jake boarded the coach with a fluid hop. "Anyone who wants to get off this coach and stay home, best do so now, for once the coach doors' close, you will be going to camp for two months or as long as your parents had paid for! Anyone wants to leave, stand up now!"

Not one person on the coach stood up. Jake smirked. Poor kids, the camp would help them after all.

"Good. Driver, you can now close the door and head for the camp."

Everyone on the coach was nervous, and they became even more homesick each mile they drove away from the comforts of home and towards the camp. Some wondered what the camp was like, since the sports sounded great on the leaflet, and this was one of the many topics of conversation that made the coach ride that much more bearable. It was good thing too, because Dudley found that one of the boys, Jonathan, was really unbearable. He seemed the kind of person that'd kick you just for fun.

~~~~~~~~

They arrived at the camp late that night; mainly due to the fact that most of the kids needed to use the bathroom; so the bus stopped at nearly every single gas station to let them pee. The campers got off the bus was awed by what they saw; there was three basketball courts, three tennis courts, five football fields with the nets ready to be accepting the football into them. There was an Olympic sized swimming pool for them to swim in as well as a big lake for them to boat upon. The camp counselor, a tall, muscular, heavily mustached man, informed them of the rules of the camp and told them to all head off to bed as they would be awakened at five am. Dudley went quickly, wondering why on earth anyone would get up that early, and why exactly that man scared him so much. Maybe it was because his height reminded him of that horrid freak who had given him a pig's tail.

Dudley watched as the other boys in his cabin all checked their blood sugar levels and he didn’t. He wondered why would they need to check their blood sugar, they all looked healthy to him. But he didn’t ask as he climbed into his bed and fell asleep.

Early the next morning, at exactly five to be precise, the trumpets bleared loudly, awakening all of the happy campers. They all got dressed sleepily; they knew that anyone who was late wouldn't get any breakfast. There would be a demerit for their cabin too, and if they got too many of those they lose privileges.

Dudley wanted to sleep in. He'd never had to awaken this early, ever. The counselor, though, had other ideas. He yanked hard and flipped the mattress over, and Dudley spilled all over the floor. "What are you doing still sleeping? You heard the trumpet blow, get up and dressed in five minutes or your cabin will be without breakfast!"

Jonathan kicked violently Dudley in the butt, sending hot pain up his spine. "Come on, Dursley! Get your fat arse up! If you don't get up and dressed in five minutes, we all lose breakfast, you deaf sod!"

Dudley finally registered the last part of the sentence, and sat straight up in a flash. He loved breakfast; they couldn't take that away from him! He quickly squeezed into yesterday's clothes and headed outside.

What he saw made his jaw drop. All he could see were long straight lines of children, standing to attention. What were these things? Robots? As he stood there, watching, more kids ran out and joined the lines.

"What are you staring at, you bloody fat arse? Get your fat arse in line and get ready to jog!" The staff member yelled. He glared at Dudley as he stomped off to the end of the line. "Ready, you sorry pieces of lard arses? Now jog!"

They jogged and jogged till the sun rose which seemed to take forever. Dudley trailed the whole group; his weight was hindering his running ability. He was yelled at and abused to keep moving and couldn't help but growl about the torture as he continued to jog. He was sure they had run for hours! The sun was just rising in the east.

"Remember the rules of the cafeteria; one item from each food group, if you grabbed more than one item, your tray will be removed from your hands and you will be told to restart your tray over again. Now you may go inside and get your tray of breakfast." The staff member stated, as he pointed towards the cafeteria. Everyone hurried towards the room among sighs of relief.

Dudley was panting hard as he hurriedly got in line. He went through the line and got three of everything. When he got to the end of the line that was when he was frowned upon as his tray was removed from his hand.

"What is your name?"

"Dudley Dursley,"

"You are only allowed one item from each food group, not three of everything. Now, return to the end of the line and start over again."

Dudley fumed about how much food he was allowed for breakfast as he walked back to the end of the line. Great, it was now longer! This was nowhere near his normal amount of food. He grumbled about it to the kid in front of him.

"So? You did see the sign on the cafeteria wall out front didn't you?" the kid asked. “And heard what the counselor said about one item?”

"What sign?" Dudley asked, stupidly. “What statement?”

"The sign that says one item from each food group any more then one from each, will make you lose your tray and you told to return to the end of the line and start over again." The kid said, as he looked away from Dudley.

Finally, Dudley got to the food counter only to find that there was no more food there. He walked all the way to the end of the food line to find that all was left was a single apple. He hated apples.

Dudley looked at the apple as the staff member walked up to him.

"Where's all the food that was up here?" he asked, refusing to believe his father had paid someplace that would starve him.

The staff member picked up the apple and looked at Dudley. "You snooze on the rules, you lose. Now get to your table and eat. Oh, right, all you got is orange juice to drink."

Dudley headed for his cabin's table and sat down, picking up the pitcher of orange juice and pouring it into a glass.

"Thanks, lard arse!" snapped a staff member, as he picked up Dudley's glass of orange juice. He drank it between snorts of laughter as he walked away.

The camp counselor stood up and looked at everyone in the room. "Good morning, campers."

The room was silent.

"I said, good morning campers,"

"Good morning, camp counselor," yelled the campers.

“As you may have figured out, The Path of the Peak camp is a Diabetic camp. Every single camper in this camp, including some of the camp staff is diabetic and for those who have just been diagnosed we will help you lose weight by the time you leave camp. Depends on how long they stay here, the chances of losing weight will be good.”

A few campers were shocked to hear that the camp that they’re in was a diabetic camp, some lowered their heads as they had been in denial about their medical condition.

"When you leave this room, each of you will be having a physical done by our camp nurse and then you will see our camp dietitian who will prescribe to you an exercise regiment. For those who do not know this, our camp nurse will be drawing blood to test for any problems that would come from being overweight as in high blood pressure and to see how your blood sugar levels are." the counselor said. "And if you do have one of the problems mentioned, do not worry for we will help you get better but it is up to you to get better. Now, line up head for the nurse's office."

After breakfast the boys moved in tandem to the nurse's office. Her name was Jenny. She tested everyone, gave everyone their physicals and also made them pee for a urine specimen as well as blood work. Afterwards they saw the dietician and were put on a caloric meal plan and an exercise regiment for them to follow daily.

In the end, everyone had gone through the grueling process and were all now standing in front of the nurse's office. Jenny and the camp counselor were talking and soon, Jenny asked for the following campers to step forward. Ten campers, including Dudley, were called forth.

The ten nervous boys who were called back to the infirmary were told their results were positive for some test. They, apparently, needed to be retested so the camp could be sure that the results were correct the first time around.

"The test that we did on you ten was for diabetes."

"I'm not diabetic," snapped Dudley.

"We needed to make sure that you are not, Mr. Dursley, these tests that we do will make sure that you are able to handle the exercise program we will have for you. That is why we need to retest your blood and your urine sample. Now just follow the counselor to the screening room to give your urine sample after that is done, I'll draw blood from your arm again."

Dudley fumed as he lined up with the rest of the boys but he obeyed what he was told to do and as he waited in the room. "When I figure a way to get word to my parents, they will yank me out of this camp immediately."

The counselor walked over to him after the nurse told him Dudley was positive for diabetes. "Don't bet on it, Mr. Dursley, you are a diabetic. You will be placed on a diet, along with an exercise plan and you will be taught how to monitor your blood sugar levels. Once, your weight goes down, you might not need to have any shots of insulin but for now you will be requiring it. Your GP has already been informed of your condition."

"What about my folks?" Dudley asked.

"We will notify them to get themselves checked for diabetes." The counselor stated. “You may rejoin your cabin now.”

They left the nurse's office all shocked about what they had learned. Dudley was given tons of leaflets on diabetes, and wasted no time in reading them; after all, he had this thing, so he might as well figure out what it was about. After reading them, however, he still had more questions then answers. He got up out of his bunk and headed for the door.

"Dudley, where are you heading off to?" asked one of the kids.

"To see the nurse, I need to have some questions answered," Dudley replied, and promptly left for the nurse's office. He was about to knock when he heard the unmistakable voice of his mother in the room. He peeked in to see that his mother was not there. 'Speaker phones.' He knew his mother was not very happy sounding.

"What do you mean my son is diabetic?" screeched Mrs. Dursley.

"The tests prove that he is a diabetic. There are key tones and his urine all stated the same thing - he is a diabetic. If you want to kill your son, then go right ahead and remove him from this camp, but I will not be held accountable for his death.”

"Send the results of the tests to my GP! He'll either prove or disprove your claim that he is diabetic!" Mrs. Dursley roared.

“I have already talked with your GP and he said to keep him here to and monitor his diabetes and help him lose the weight. And he proved that he is diabetic."

There was a strained silence on the other end of the phone. Then, they heard Mrs. Dursley's voice sounding very resigned to the fact that her son is diabetic. "What do we do when he returns?" Was that a sob?

"He will not be able to eat any sweets again, unless he knows his blood sugar is low. Most of the time, you can get your sugar levels righted by drinking orange juice or having couple of M&M’s. But he will require a constant diet which we will put him on and will send you a list of allowed food on the diet. You and your husband might want to work on the diet plan while he's here, you might like the meals that Dudley will be eating from now on. Be thankful that your son lives, my son didn't."

"Your son had diabetes?"

"Yes, type one. I controlled it by diet and exercise until one night he slipped into a coma and died during the night. He didn't check his sugar levels and died during the night." Jenny said, trying to hold back a sob. "Your son weighs over 20 stone and if his weight is not lowered soon, he could die." That sounded serious.

"Fax over his diet plan, we will work on removing all the things that is bad for him and healthy for him and get food into the house that is healthy for him." Vernon said quickly. He would never want his son to die.

“What do I with all the food in the house?” wailed Mrs. Dursley in the background.

“Mr. Dursley, are you overweight?” asked Jenny. She knew if his son was overweight, the father might be as well.

“Yes as is my sister Marge,” Vernon stated. He was worried that maybe both of them were diabetic like his son is.

"I would ask you to go to your GP tomorrow morning and get your blood tested for diabetes. Tell the nurse you require the diabetes test. You might wish to inform your sister Marge to get herself tested for Diabetes. It would be in her best interest if she is informed about it and get tested. Is your wife overweight too?”

"No, she's thin, why?"

"Because, she might have diabetes, there is a slight chance but slim. She should get tested as well,"

"I'll make sure she's tested as well. Should nephews or nieces be tested as well?"

"How closely related are you to the nephew and nieces?"

"He's my wife's sister's son."

"Is he thin or overweight?"

"He's thin," Vernon stated.

"Then, he is in the clear," Jenny replied. "Also Mrs. Dursley, I'll be sending you a one year subscription to Diabetes Now UK magazine which has some great recipes for those who have diabetes. You might want to check out the information in the articles about Diabetes as well. There are support groups for those who have diabetes and those family members," Jenny added.

Mr. Dursley said. “Thank you Jenny, for helping Dudley with his problem. My wife and I are sorry for your loss,”

“Thank you; it was over five years ago, he would have been twenty years old in three days from now.” Jenny said quietly, ending the call with the Dursleys’. She turned towards the camp counselor and smiled. “That was easy. I was afraid Mrs. Dursley would blow up at me about this but neither of them did. It sounds like that Mrs. Dursley has accepted the fact that her son has diabetes but the real test will come when he returns to them and if he remains on the diet that he must be on and the exercise plan.”

The group counselor said, "I thought so too. His son didn't like that he has diabetes, Jenny. He will not like what he has to do to keep his sugar under control."

Dudley took this chance to open the door. "Ms. Jenny, may I talk to you about my Diabetes?"

Jenny smiled and waved to a seat. "Sure, please come in and sit down Dudley."

Dudley asked. "What type diabetes do I have?"

Jenny replied readily, quite amazed that he was asking questions. From what she could see he was scared. "You have Type 1 Diabetes and you will have it for the rest of your life. You will have to test your blood sugar and take shots; if you get it really under control you might get lucky enough to go on the insulin pump but you have to have good control on your blood sugar and your shots first."

Dudley said, "I want to try hard and get my sugar under control and lose the weight."

Jenny smiled. "It will take time Dudley. You didn't gain the weight overnight so it will take time for you to lose it."

Dudley nodded. "Did you have a son and what happened to him?"

Jenny nodded, before she removed a picture of her son on the wall and showed it to Dudley. There in the picture was a before and after picture of a young fifteen year old who was somewhat overweight-looking and then a twenty year old young man who was thin and very healthy looking. "He was a Type one Diabetic and he had very good control of his blood sugars. He died in his sleep and never woke up. That was five years go."

“I'm sorry.”

Jenny shook her head. “That's why I help people like you; complications from diabetes can rob you of your eyesight, lose a leg or even die from uncontrolled diabetes. By helping overweight kids at this weight loss camp, live and accept their new life as a diabetic with learning how to keep your blood sugar at a good level and you can live a normal productive life.”

"Can it be cured?" asked Dudley.

“No but it can be controlled by diet exercise and medication. You will have to use a meter to check your blood sugar a lot until you have it under control and adjust your insulin accordingly, and keep a log of your sugars so the people that deal with you will have to know how to help you when and if your sugar levels go too low. Test your blood sugars daily, before, during and after meals and before you go to bed and sometimes even during the night. What I'm surprised is how your school let you and others slip though the cracks?”

"Well actually they did test me for Diabetes," Dudley stated. “I was diagnosed early this year, but I hid it from my folks, and made sure that the post never showed any notices from my school to my folks.”

“Then you should have followed it but they should have done a better job and followed through by telling your GP. Did they tell your GP they suggested a diet meal plan?”

“No, I do not believe they did speak with my GP,” Dudley stated. “Mum didn't want me following it. She let me eat what ever I wanted.”

Jenny shook her head. "How sad! Now you're paying for it forever with your life; your mother was in denial, and wouldn't accept it until now.”

"Even when I was a little kid, if I wanted something I got it before I threw a temper tantrum." Dudley stated. "What I wanted, I got. Now, I got something that I didn't ask for and I don't want it."

Jenny said, “Dudley, after you leave here after losing the weight I would like to keep in contact with you if it's ok with your folks I would like to know how you’re doing with your blood sugars,”

"Will do," Dudley exclaimed happily, glad to have made a new friend.

Jenny sighed as she touched his hand. “I know you didn't want it Dudley, my son had said the same thing when he was first diagnosed at the age you are now and now he's gone. We had our ups and downs but he took it bravely and talked to kids and went to a Diabetes support group and talked about how he felt. He even went to a Diabetes camp to be with others who has Diabetes.”

They both talked more about the equipment that Dudley would have to deal with on a daily basis. Jenny showed him how to prick his finger and draw the amount of blood he needed to test with, and then showed him how to log what his sugar count was. She showed him how to measure and give himself his insulin shots, Jenny had him practice on a grapefruit with sugar water and inject it into the grapefruit to practice giving the shots until he was comfortable with it. It was about 10pm before he headed off to bed, fully aware of what he had and he was calm about it.

_TBC . . ._


	3. Chapter Three.

**Chapter Three.**

The next day, Jenny had Dudley visit her office before he went on his morning jog to give himself his first insulin shot. He did it and learned to rotate his sites daily with the shots.  
After the morning group jog, Dudley looked at his breakfast sheet and saw what he could have to eat and what he couldn't. Dudley followed it to the letter, even though he missed his normal breakfast dishes. But he knew it was for his health that he eat what was on his sheet as he didn’t want to die or lose a limb because of him slacking on his diet to help control his diabetes.  
It was after his breakfast, did he go and visit with Jenny, she was nice and very understanding as he had his worries that if he did mess up and eat something he shouldn’t that he’ll die.  
Jenny laughed at that. "No, you will not die if you eat something not on your diet, Dudley. It will mean you will have to check your blood sugar levels as soon as possible and log it in your book. You will need to visit your GP every six months for health checks and to see how your blood sugar levels are doing. He or she will tell you whether or not you need to keep giving yourself insulin shots. Most people will go into remission on diabetes but they should always continue to check their blood sugar levels in case they may return to being a diabetic or pre-diabetic. With any luck, you should be fine with this new way of eating. You will need to remain diligent about it but you should be fine."  
Dudley smiled at her comforting words.  
“But will I be able to do the things that I did before?” asked Dudley.  
“Like what things?” Jenny inquired, as she leaned against the railing of the nurse’s cabin.  
"Do what the other kids are doing?" Dudley asked, looking in the direction of some of the other kids playing basketball or British football namely soccer in a field.  
"Oh, you can still play basketball and football, Dudley, just watch your sugar levels while you are playing," Jenny stated, as she looked at Dudley's dirty blond hair.  
Dudley smiled big as he started to move down the steps, “Thank you Jenny,” as he rushed to the field to see if they would let him play football too.  
Jenny watched as Dudley got placed in a team that was playing. She turned towards the camp counselor and smiled as Dudley started to run with the football in front of his foot. Jenny smiled as they headed back into the cabin.  
It was about couple hours later, Dudley came to the cabin door and knocked.  
“Come in, the door’s open,” yelled a voice from within the cabin.  
Dudley walked into the room and saw that Jenny was poking her finger with a lancet. Jenny looked up and smiled. “Sorry for interrupting but I need to check my sugar levels,”  
“Right, the instruments are right there, Dudley. How was the game?” asked Jenny as she placed the drops of blood on the strip and placed it in the meter. She looked at him as he fumbled with the finger pricking device. “Here let me show you how to hold it again.”  
“Sorry, I’m a bit nervous doing this,” Dudley said. It was true, he was nervous about checking his blood sugar levels. “The game was good, though I do need to lose some more weight for me to really run as fast as the others were.”  
“I was nervous myself when I did this the first several times till it got to be second nature to me,” Jenny stated as she wiped away the first drop of blood with a swap dipped in rubbing alcohol. She gave his fingertip a squeeze to bring up another good size blood drop and tipped it over onto the test strip and placed it in his meter. Her meter beeped. She looked at it and smiled. “I’m in the good range still.”  
“Jenny, how did I get Type 1?” asked Dudley, as he watched her as she logged the level of her blood sugar.  
"Type 1 diabetes develops when the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas have been destroyed. Nobody knows for sure why these cells have been damaged but the most likely cause is an abnormal reaction of the body to the cells. This may be triggered by a viral or other infection. This type of diabetes generally affects younger people. Both sexes are affected equally." Jenny stated. She glanced at his meter. “So are you in the good level?”  
Dudley turned to look at his meter and saw that he was a bit high. “I’m a little on the high count. How do I fix that?”  
Jenny nodded as she looked at him. “Well you need to do more excising and also I will need to adjust your insulin if you go past a certain number and lose over 200 - then we can adjust your caloric intake and you insulin accordantly.”  
Dudley smiled. “Oh can we work on more of a lesson take from the 1400 you have me on to a 1200 calories diet please if I need to increase it can we try it this way for now?”  
“Sounds like you are very willing to lose the weight and also to control your diabetes, Dudley,” Jenny said with a smile on her face. She got up and opened a file draw and pulled out the diet plan for those who were on the 1200 calories diet plan. She handed it over to him and said, “This will restrict your diet even more, Dudley.”  
Jenny gave herself two insulin shots while Dudley had to take one. Jenny explained why she was giving herself two shots. Both of them took their shots at the same times so Dudley would learn not to depend on his parents to help. She taught him how to fill his shot so he would have a shot prepared for him ahead of time.  
"But I saw the kids in my cabin shake their insulin bottles before they administered it into their needles, Jenny?" Dudley asked.  
“Sometimes, the insulin will settle at the bottom of the bottle, a good shaking will make it suspend into the liquid. When you go to fill the syringe make sure you wipe the insulin top every time you fill the syringe or you contaminate the insulin. You need to set the needle to the right amount but you leave out the air or you can get a bubble in the insulin and it can pass into the blood stream and can possibly kill you. Just tap the needle syringe to get all the air bubbles out.” Jenny showed Dudley how to do it right. Dudley was grateful for Jenny's help teaching him how to fill his insulin syringe and to keep it cool in the refrigerator with a cup with his name on it holding his syringes in it.  
Dudley wrote his name on a cup and placed the recently filled syringes into the cup and placed it in the refrigerator. "Jenny, if I am able to get my weight down and the shots will they not be needed as much?"  
Jenny smiled as she watched him walk out of the office, “We will see what will happen...if you do really well; we might have to adjust your insulin.”  
Dudley went and worked out but forgot to test his blood sugars and had a low blood sugar reaction. Dudley collapsed Jenny ran and got the glucose meter and checked his sugar it was 40 and that wasn't good Dudley was confused and someone had glucon, Jenny grabbed it and shoved some of it into Dudley’s cheek. She sat there watching and hoping for him to awaken.  
Dudley was a bit confused he did everything right and this happened. He heard Jenny’s voice yell for someone to bring her a 4 oz glass of Orange juice and then checked Dudley's sugar ten minutes later and it was back to normal. Dudley started to come around from the low blood sugar reaction. “What happened?”  
"You had a low sugar reaction, but don't worry these usually do not happen very often," Jenny stated, as she helped him to stand up and head for the nurse's office.  
Dudley told Jenny that he didn't feel really good as he wobbled back to the office.  
"Don't worry, Dudley, the feeling will pass. Now, here have this carbohydrate and protein to eat," Jenny stated, as she watched him eat what she gave him, she also handed him 4 oz of Orange juice to drink with the small meal.  
Jenny watched him for the next ten minutes, before she had him check his blood sugar levels to find that they were back to normal levels. “By the way, Dudley I need to weigh you.”  
Jenny went to the scale and leveled it to what Dudley weighed before he started on his diet. She clicked it down three times before jotting something down on her pad.  
Dudley was curious. “Jenny, did I lose any weight?”  
Jenny looked at him and smiled. “Yes you did Dudley you lost two stones, if you do well you may need a new wardrobe soon and you can give your old clothes to charity.”  
Dudley looked shocked. “Really? My mum will have a fit, but I think dad will be happy for me.”  
She laughed as she put the pad down.  
Dudley asked if he could go out and play.  
She told him to be careful and watched as he ran off to join his friends.  
The camp counselor stepped into the office, "What happened to Dudley?"  
"Low blood sugar levels, he'll need an extra protein and carb item for dinner tonight," Jenny stated, as she looked at him.  
The camp counselor nodded. “Ok we will, Jenny thanks for the heads up. Can Dudley go back to doing exercising?”  
“Yes but I warned him to be careful and so please keep an eye on him for the rest of the day will you?”  
“No problem,” He was just about to walk out of the office, when he turned. “Any word from his dad about him being diabetic or not,”  
"Not yet. I'm hoping he's not but if he is, then we can send him the information he needs and his son can help him stick to the diet," Jenny stated.  
Just then, the phone rang.  
Jenny picked it up. “Path of the Peak camp, Jenny speaking,”  
"Hello is this Jenny?"  
"Yes, it is,"  
"Vernon Dursley, I just wanted to let her know that I'm type one diabetic and my sister is too. Pet...I mean Petunia is negative for diabetes. I’m wondering if there is a camp for adults with diabetes or I could work out his diabetes with Dudley while he was at camp and learn to portion his meal plans as well with Dudley while learning to take insulin.”  
"Well, we do have another camp that is for the parents of diabetic kids and some of the parents are diabetic too. You might want to take a leave of absence of two weeks to come to the camp to learn and to get the plans on how to get healthy."  
Jenny and Vernon had a good chat about the other adult camp before Vernon ended the call and Jenny looked at the counselor. "I'll tell Dudley about his dad."  
The kids were all in line to get their dinner; Dudley took two items from the carb section as well from the protein side. He got to the end of the line and was afraid when the staffer stood there looking at him. “I’m allowed to have two items from the carb and the protein side because of what happened today.”  
“Just making sure it is protein and carb, Dudley. Go on to your seat,” the staffer stated.  
Dudley was seated when Jenny came to his table. "Hi Jenny,"  
"Hi Dudley, listen, I got a call from your dad and it's not good news. Both his sister and he have been diagnosed as having Type 1 diabetes. He'll be at our adult camp as soon as his place of work allows him to take time off," Jenny said, as she sat down across from him.  
“So does he have to take insulin just like me?” asked Dudley.  
Jenny nodded. “But the good thing is that he’s very interested in losing the weight he has and getting it under control.”  
“Did you tell him what had happened to me…today?” asked Dudley, worried about how his mum would take to that news.  
Jenny nodded. “Yes I did and your dad said you did right and he's proud of you. Your mum on the other hand fainted after learning that your dad was diagnosed with diabetes also and has to take time off for a while to work off the weight and your aunt will be at the adult camp soon.”  
"He's proud of me passing out?" Dudley said.  
Jenny shook her head. “No Dudley, he's not happy that you passed out. But he's glad we caught it before you went into a coma but he was glad to hear that you are working hard with your diet and the exercise program you are doing.”  
Dudley asked, “What is the adult camp like? Do they do the same as we here?”  
“As in learning how to inject our shots, yes and no, usually, the adults are more understanding about how to do their shots. They’ll learn how to manage their diets and weights to keep the diabetes in check,” Jenny stated.  
“So it is like this camp only with adults?” asked Dudley.  
Jenny explained to Dudley and Vernon did what he was told for two weeks since his boss allowed him to have two weeks vacation time. After the time there, he managed his diabetes and got it under control, he was about to go back to work.  
Dudley worked hard and he did an excellent job with his diet and exercised every single day morning and night to keep his weight going down.

_TBC . . ._


	4. Chapter Four.

**Chapter Four.**

The day came that the campers were to leave, Dudley looked at the weight he was at when he first arrived at the camp. “I weighed over 159.1 kg, when I first arrived here and now I weigh about 113 kg. That’s a lot of weight taken off right?”  
“Yes, you have lost a good deal of weight but you still need to get more off, you have to get it to 92.5 kg, which is be your ideal weight for your height but remember to watch your blood sugar levels, Dudley.” Jenny stated, as she wrote down Dudley’s final weight in his file. She looked at him. “Dudley, I will be faxing your weight file to your GP before you leave today. He will be very pleased with how you have lost weight and now getting your diabetes under control. It will be a hard road to row, but your health has been getting better. I have been watching you run in the morning and you are faster instead of being at the end of the line dragging your feet breathing hard.”  
“It took me quite a while before I was really able to really run, I usually walk real fast,” Dudley admitted. “Now, I’m able to run and I have a new sense of myself. Thank you for all your help Jenny. By the way, how are my dad and aunt doing with their diabetes?”  
Jenny smiled. "Well, this is the only time that the parents are able to see the camp. Your folks will be here very soon if not already here."  
Dudley asked. “I wonder if mum cleaned out all the junk food out of the house yet before I come home?”  
"I pray she did for it is not good for her husband or your health." Jenny stated, noticing that there was cars coming up the road. "Oh the parents are here."  
Dudley headed out of the nurse's office to see several cars pulling up and he wondered what his father would now look like with some weight taken off. He could see his mum stepping out of the car and start looking around. "Mum! Dad!"  
Petunia heard her son's cry and turned to look in the direction of the voice. She was shocked her extremely overweight son looked thinner; her mind went racing about how to fatten him back up again. "What have they been feeding you? You are too thin!"  
"Mum, I must lose the weight or die. Dad, Aunt Marge and I are all diabetic, we must lose weight or die." Dudley stated calmly but sure of himself.  
Petunia couldn't believe her son. She was not very happy with how the camp made Dudley loses a good amount of weight. "Where is the administrator of this camp? I want to file a complaint."  
"Mum, please this camp is for diabetics and we all lost weight to stay healthy and alive, we must." Dudley stated. He turned to his dad. "You are looking really good, dad. Are you up for a morning run tomorrow?"  
"Of course, I have been doing a mile each morning and evening right after supper. How is your blood sugar level right now?" Vernon said, as he looked at him.  
“My level is doing really good. Maybe Harry can run with me if he wants to,” Dudley said.  
Petunia heard that. "That boy will not do a thing with you. He's the reason why you have diabetes!"  
Dudley snapped. “Mum it's hereditary and Harry is not responsible for me getting it! I am...and I'm sick of you blaming Harry for me getting diabetes if anything I should blame you mum for allowing me to eat whatever I wanted and you knew when I got it so you didn't do a darn thing to prevent me from gaining all this weight. Now I'm paying the price for it thank you mum!”  
Petunia was sobbing at being told off by Dudley but Vernon agreed with his son, he said. “Pet, he is right. You did allow him to eat whatever he so wanted and didn’t restrict his meals. I, too, am partially at fault here too. I didn’t make you do chores around the house as that would have cut into your time eating and getting fatter. Now, when we get home, I’ve revamped the chore sheet. Harry, you and me will be doing the chores around the house together.”  
Dudley nodded. It was a fair exchange with Harry and it would keep them from going back to being lazy again. Dudley didn’t want to get lazy now that he knew that he had diabetes. “Has Harry returned from that ‘ _world_ ’ yet?”  
“No, he won’t return till next summer holiday,” Vernon said.  
“Good riddance!” Petunia stated harshly.  
Dudley spoke up, “Well you are being selfish mum and we all treated Harry badly. It's your fault that we had treated him wrongly. We should really treat him a bit nicer as he’s not guilty for a crime.”  
“Yes, he is guilty of a crime. The crime of being born!” snapped Petunia.  
Dudley knew his mum was being stubborn. He turned to his dad. "Are the sweet food removed from the house?"  
"Yes, they have all been removed from the house. They were removed when we returned home and there hasn’t been any since. The only sweets we have are fruits and vegetables. We do have sweets but they are sugar-free type."  
“That’s great, but I will only have them once in a while and only for a treat. Have you had an apple with peanut butter on it? It is great! I love it.” Dudley stated, as he put his trunk in the boot of the car. “Dad, I want to come back next year, I like this place. The people are very kind.”  
"Okay, I’ll make sure you will be able to return. Let's go home, son." Vernon said, as he looked at his son.  
Dudley agreed and said his final farewells to his new found friends and told them that he’ll keep in touch as he waved goodbye to them all before getting in the backseat and finally putting the seatbelt on without much trouble.  
Dudley grabbed his meter and got couple of drops of blood to test to see how good his blood sugar levels were and they were good. He quickly jotted down in the log book what his level was at as they drove back to number four Privet Drive. Dudley knew he needed to keep an eye on his diabetes and his weight.  
As the car turned in four Privet Drive Dudley got out of the car and hurried into the house as he had to use the privy. “Don’t worry about the trunk, dad. I’ll get it when I get out of the privy.”  
Vernon smiled as he pop open the boot and looked at the house. He knew that Dudley and himself had a hard road to hoe and they needed to stick to their diet plan, their exercise plan and make sure that their blood sugar levels were at their proper levels.

**This story is now done.**


End file.
